In 2012, Cruz ran for and won the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by fellow Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison. He is the first Hispanic American to serve as a U.S. Senator from Texas. In 2016, Cruz ran for President of the United States, winning Republican contests in 12 states before withdrawing from the race. He was reelected to the Senate in 2018, defeating Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke by a slim margin of 50.9% to 48.3% in the most expensive Senate race in U.S. history. Along with Bob Menendez and Marco Rubio, Cruz is one of three current U.S. Senators of Cuban descent.

At the time of his birth, Ted Cruz's parents had lived in Calgary for three years and were working in the oil business as owners of a seismic-data processing firm for oil drilling.[7][13][14][15][16] Cruz has said that he is the son of "two mathematicians/computer programmers."[17] In 1974, Cruz's father left the family and moved to Texas.[18] Later that year, Cruz's parents reconciled and relocated the family to Houston.[3] They divorced in 1997.[19] Cruz had two older half-sisters, Miriam Ceferina Cruz and Roxana Lourdes Cruz, from his father's first marriage. Miriam died in 2011.[19][20][21]

Education

During high school, Cruz participated in a Houston-based group known at the time as the Free Market Education Foundation, a program that taught high school students the philosophies of economists such as Milton Friedman and Frédéric Bastiat.[16][25]

Cruz's 115-page senior thesis at Princeton investigated the separation of powers; its title, Clipping the Wings of Angels: The History and Theory behind the Ninth and Tenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, was inspired by a passage attributed to James Madison: "If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary." Cruz argued that the drafters of the Constitution intended to protect their constituents' rights, and that the last two items in the Bill of Rights offer an explicit stop against an all-powerful state.[9][32]

Cruz authored 70 U.S. Supreme Court briefs and presented 43 oral arguments.[34][40][48] His nine appearances before the Supreme Court are the most by any practicing lawyer in Texas or current member of Congress.[49] Cruz has said, "We ended up year after year arguing some of the biggest cases in the country. There was a degree of serendipity in that, but there was also a concerted effort to seek out and lead conservative fights."[49]

In 2003, while Cruz was Texas Solicitor General, the Texas Attorney General's office declined to defend Texas's sodomy law in Lawrence v. Texas, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state laws banning homosexual sex were unconstitutional.[50]

In 2004, Cruz was involved in the high-profile case surrounding a challenge to the constitutionality of public schools' requiring students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance (including the words "under God", legally a part of the Pledge since 1954), Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow.[34][38] He wrote a brief on behalf of all 50 states that argued that the plaintiff, a non-custodial parent, did not have standing to file suit on his daughter's behalf.[53] The Supreme Court upheld the position of Cruz's brief.[54]

Cruz served as lead counsel for the state and successfully defended the multiple litigation challenges to the 2003 Texas congressional redistricting plan in state and federal district courts and before the U.S. Supreme Court, which was decided 5–4 in his favor in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry.[38][55]

In Medellin v. Texas, Cruz successfully defended Texas against an attempt to reopen the cases of 51 Mexican nationals, all of whom were convicted of murder in the United States and on death row.[34][38][40][48] With the support of the George W. Bush Administration, the petitioners argued that the United States had violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by failing to notify the convicted nationals of their opportunity to receive legal aid from the Mexican consulate.[43][56] They based their case on a decision of the International Court of Justice in the Avena case, which ruled that by failing to allow access to the Mexican consulate, the US had breached its obligations under the Convention.[57] Texas won the case in a 6–3 decision, the Supreme Court holding that ICJ decisions were not binding in domestic law and that the President had no power to enforce them.[43][56]

Michael Wayne Haley was arrested for stealing a calculator from Walmart in 1997.[58] Because of Haley's previous criminal convictions, he was sentenced to 16-and-a-half years in prison under the Texas habitual offender law. After Haley had exhausted his appeals, it became known that Haley's robbery offense occurred three days before one of his other convictions was finalized; this raised a question about the applicability of the habitual offender statute in his case. As Solicitor General, Cruz declined to vacate Haley's sentence, saying "I think justice is being done because he had a full and fair trial and an opportunity to raise his errors."[59] The Supreme Court later remanded the case to lower courts based on Haley's ineffective assistance of counsel claim. During oral argument, Cruz conceded that Haley had a very strong argument for ineffective assistance of counsel since Haley's attorney failed to recognize the sentencing error and that he would not move to have Haley re-incarcerated during the appeal process.[59] After remand, Haley was re-sentenced to "time served".[60]

Return to private practice

After leaving the Solicitor General position in 2008, Cruz worked in a private law firm in Houston, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, often representing corporate clients, until he was sworn in as U.S. senator from Texas in 2013.[9][38][66] At Morgan Lewis, he led the firm's U.S. Supreme Court and national appellate litigation practice.[66] In 2010, he abandoned a bid for state attorney general when incumbent Attorney General Greg Abbott, who hired Cruz as Solicitor General, decided to run for reelection.[11]

At Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Cruz represented Pfizer in a lawsuit brought by a group of public hospitals and community health centers, who accused Pfizer of overcharging.[67] Shandong Linglong Rubber Company was found guilty of marketing versions of tires that were based on blueprints stolen by a former employee of a Florida businessman and ordered to pay $26 million to the Floridian. Cruz worked on the Chinese company's appellant brief. The appeals court denied the appeal and affirmed the jury's award.[68] Cruz represented drug manufacturer B. Braun Medical Inc. in front of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit after the company was found guilty of wrongfully discharging a former employee. Cruz asserted that she had failed to prove that B. Braun had directed her to violate the law and that she had not presented sufficient evidence that her refusal to violate the law was why she had been fired. The appeals court rejected Cruz's argument and affirmed the $880,000 award.[68] Cruz represented Toyota in an appeal to the Texas Supreme Court in a statute of limitations case, where a judge wanted to investigate Toyota for contempt after a former Toyota in-house lawyer accused Toyota of unlawfully withholding documents in a product liability case.[69] Cruz unsuccessfully argued the judge's jurisdiction expired 30 days after the case was dismissed following an out-of-court settlement, but later won a second appeal using the same argument.[70]

Cruz defended two record-setting $54-million personal injury awards in New Mexico at the appellate level, including one that had been thrown out by a lower court.[71] He represented a mentally disabled man who was allegedly raped by an employee of the facility where he lived, and the family of a 78-year-old resident of an Albuquerque nursing home who died of internal bleeding.[71][72] The settlements were sealed in both cases.[71][72]

U.S. Senate

Cruz in 2012 with his predecessor-to-be (Sen. Hutchison at right) and his future fellow senator from Texas (Sen. Cornyn at left)

Cruz won the runoff for the Republican nomination by a 14-point margin over Dewhurst, support for Dewhurst having plummeted while Cruz's vote total dramatically increased from the first round.[88] Cruz won despite being outspent by Dewhurst, who held a statewide elected office,[89] $19 million to $7 million.[89][90]

In the November 6 general election, Cruz faced Democratic nominee Paul Sadler, an attorney and a former state representative from Henderson, in east Texas. Cruz won with 4.5 million votes (56.4%) to Sadler's 3.2 million (40.6%). Two minor candidates garnered the remaining 3% of the vote.[91] According to a poll by Cruz's pollster Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research, Cruz received 40% of the Hispanic vote, vs. 60% for Sadler, outperforming Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney with the Hispanic vote in Texas.[92][93]

After Time magazine reported that Cruz might have violated ethics rules by failing to publicly disclose his financial relationship with Caribbean Equity Partners Investment Holdings during the 2012 campaign, he called his failure to disclose the connection an inadvertent omission.[94]

In January 2016, The New York Times reported that Cruz and his wife had taken out nearly $1 million in low-interest loans from Goldman Sachs (where she worked) and Citibank, and failed to report them on Federal Election Commission disclosure statements as required by law.[95] Cruz disclosed the loans on his Senate financial disclosure forms in July 2012, but not on the FEC form.[96] There is no indication that Cruz's wife had any role in providing any of the loans, or that the banks did anything wrong.[96] The loans were largely repaid by later campaign fundraising. A spokesperson for Cruz said his failure to report the loans to the FEC was "inadvertent" and that he would file supplementary paperwork.[95]

Legislation

Cruz presents a U.S. flag to World War II veteran Richard Arvine Overton during opening ceremony for outpatient clinic in Austin on August 22, 2013

As of November 2018, Cruz has sponsored 105 bills of his own, including:[97]

S.505, a bill to prohibit the use of drones to kill citizens of the United States within the United States, introduced March 7, 2013

S.729 and S. 730, bills to investigate and prosecute felons and fugitives who illegally purchase firearms, and to prevent criminals from obtaining firearms through straw purchases and trafficking, introduced March 15, 2013

S.1336, a bill to permit States to require proof of citizenship for registering to vote in federal elections, introduced July 17, 2013

Under the headline "A bipartisan message to Iran", Cruz thanked President Barack Obama for signing S. 2195 into law. The letter, published in the magazine Politico on April 18, 2014, starts with "Thanks to President Obama for joining a unanimous Congress and signing S. 2195 into law". Cruz also thanked senators from both political parties for "swiftly passing this legislation and sending it to the White House".[117][118][119]

Committee assignments

In his first two years in the Senate, Cruz attended 17 of 50 public Armed Services Committee hearings, 3 of 25 Commerce Committee hearings, 4 of the 12 Judiciary Committee hearings, and missed 21 of 135 roll call votes during the first three months of 2015.[120]

Comments on President Obama

In a November 2014 Senate speech, Cruz accused the president of being "openly desirous to destroy the Constitution and this Republic".[121] In the same speech, Cruz invoked the speeches of the ancient Roman senatorCiceroagainst Catiline to denounce Obama's planned executive actions on immigration reform.[121] Classics Professor Jesse Weiner, writing in The Atlantic, said that Cruz's analogy was "deeply disquieting" because "In casting Obama in the role of Catiline, Cruz unsubtly suggests that the sitting president was not lawfully elected and is the perpetrator of a violent insurrection to overthrow the government ... In effect, he accuses the president of high treason. Regardless of one's views on immigration reform and the Obama administration at large, this is dangerous rhetoric."[121]

Cruz has repeatedly said that the 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran "will make the Obama administration the world's leading financier of radical Islamic terrorism".[122] In response, Obama called Cruz's statements an example of "outrageous attacks" from Republican critics that crossed the line of responsible discourse: "We've had a sitting senator, who also happens to be running for President, suggest that I'm the leading state sponsor of terrorism. Maybe this is just an effort to push Mr. Trump out of the headlines, but it's not the kind of leadership that is needed for America right now."[122] Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney also criticized Cruz for his remarks, writing that although he, too, opposed the Iran agreement, Cruz's statement connecting Obama to terrorism was "way over the line" and "hurts the cause".[123][124]

After the death of Associate JusticeAntonin Scalia, Cruz expressed his view that the winner of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, rather than Obama, should appoint a new Justice.[125] In June 2016, Cruz blamed the Obama administration for the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, reasoning that it did not track the perpetrator Omar Mateen properly while he was on the terrorist watchlist.[126] Following the terrorist attack on Nice, France, Cruz said in a statement that the country was at risk as a result of the Obama administration having a "willful blindness" to radical Islamists.[127] With the passing of Fidel Castro in November, Cruz charged Obama with celebrating and lionizing Castro in public statements he made addressing the death.[128] On December 28, after Secretary of StateJohn Kerry gave a speech defending the U.S.'s decision to allow a U.N. resolution to pass that condemned Israeli settlements "on land meant to be part of a future Palestinian state", Cruz denounced the speech as "disgraceful", and said that history would remember Obama and Kerry as "relentless enemies of Israel". Cruz also accused the Obama administration of having a "radical anti-Israel agenda".[129]

Comments on President Trump

Cruz, who was one of Donald Trump's most vocal critics during the 2016 presidential campaign, became an important ally of President Trump's in the Senate.[130][131]

In late January 2017, after Trump announced Neil Gorsuch as his Supreme Court nominee, Cruz praised Gorsuch as "brilliant and immensely talented" in a written statement.[132] On February 23, while speaking at the 2017 CPAC, Cruz showed interest in Trump nominating young justices in the mold of Scalia and Clarence Thomas.[133] On March 1, Cruz called Trump's joint address to Congress the previous day "positive" and "unifying".[134] Cruz said that during his visit to the Mar-a-Lago estate on March 18, he spoke with affiliates of Trump while negotiating the American Health Care Act.[135] On April 6, shortly after the Shayrat missile strike, Cruz released a statement displaying his interest in having Trump appeal to Congress to take "military action in Syria" to prevent Islamic terrorists from acquiring weapons stored in Syria.[136]

In April 2018, in the blurb for Trump's entry on the Time 100 most influential people of 2017, Cruz wrote, "President Trump is doing what he was elected to do: disrupt the status quo."[137] Cruz's authorship of the blurb was criticized by Charles Pierce of Esquire,[138] Jay Willis of GQ,[139] and CNN's Chris Cillizza.[137]

In January 2020, after Iran attacked two U.S. military bases in Iraq, Cruz made comments about the change in Iran policy under President Trump, saying that Obama's policy was appeasement and that the missiles used to attack the bases were bought with money the Obama administration had given Iran.[140]

Friction with fellow Republican members of Congress

Cruz has used harsh rhetoric against fellow Republican politicians, and his relationships with various Republican members of Congress have been strained.[141][142] In 2013, Cruz called Republicans he thought were insufficiently resistant to Obama's proposals a "surrender caucus".[141] He also called fellow Republicans out as "squishes" on gun-control issues during a Tea Party rally.[141] Cruz's role in the United States federal government shutdown of 2013 in particular attracted criticism from a number of Republican colleagues.[142] Republican Senator John McCain was reported to have particularly disliked Cruz; in a Senate floor speech in 2013, McCain denounced Cruz's reference to Nazis when discussing the Affordable Care Act.[142] In March 2013, McCain also called Cruz and others "wacko birds" whose beliefs are not "reflective of the views of the majority of Republicans".[142] During the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, John Boehner described Cruz as "Lucifer in the flesh",[143] while during an interview, Lindsey Graham said, "If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you."[144]

In a heated Senate floor speech in July 2015, Cruz accused Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of telling "a flat-out lie" over his intentions to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank of the United States, which Cruz opposes. "What we just saw today was an absolute demonstration that not only what he told every Republican senator, but what he told the press over and over and over again was a simple lie", Cruz said.[145] Cruz's "incendiary outburst" was "unusual in the cordial atmosphere of the Senate", according to Reuters.[145][146] In the same speech, Cruz assailed the "Republican majority in both houses of Congresses" for what Cruz called an insufficiently conservative record.[146] Cruz's speech, and especially his accusation against McConnell, was condemned by various senior Republican senators, with McCain saying that the speech was "outside the realm of Senate behavior" and "a very wrong thing to do".[147]Orrin Hatch expressed a similar opinion: "I don't condone the use of that kind of language against another senator unless they can show definitive proof that there was a lie ... And I know the leader didn't lie."[148] Cruz alleged that McConnell scheduled a vote on the Ex-Im Bank as part of a deal to persuade Democrats like Maria Cantwell to stop blocking a trade bill; McConnell denied there was any "deal", and that denial was what Cruz called a "lie". Hatch said McConnell did pledge to help Cantwell get a vote on the Ex-Im Bank.[149]

Among Cruz's few close allies in the Senate is Mike Lee of Utah.[150][151] Cruz has expressed pride in his reputation for having few allies, saying in June 2015 that he has been vilified for fighting "the Washington cartel".[152]

When Boehner announced in September 2015 that he would step down and resign from the House, Cruz expressed his concern that before resigning Boehner might have "cut a deal with Nancy Pelosi to fund the Obama administration for the rest of its tenure".[153] The following month, the budget agreement passed in the House by a vote of 266 to 187, with unanimous support from Democrats and Boehner, lifting the debt ceiling through March 2017, and Cruz called the agreement "complete and utter surrender".[154]

Cruz is one of the Senate Republicans in favor of the "nuclear option", "to speed up consideration of President Trump's nominees". Changing the Senate's rules to a simple majority vote would "ensure a quicker pace on Trump's court picks".[155]

2018 election

Cruz ran for reelection to a second term in 2018.[156] The primary elections for both parties were held on March 6, 2018.[157] He easily won the Republican nomination with over 80% of the vote. He faced the Democratic nominee, U.S. Representative Beto O'Rourke, in the general election.[158] The contest was unusually competitive for an election in Texas, with most polls showing Cruz only slightly ahead of O'Rourke. The race received significant media attention[159] and became the most expensive U.S. Senate election in history.[160]

On November 6, 2018, Cruz defeated O'Rourke by a margin of 50.9% to 48.3%.[161]

Cruz did speaking events in mid-2013 across Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, all early primary states, leading to speculation that he was laying the groundwork for a run for President in 2016.[170] Legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin described Cruz as the first potential presidential candidate to emphasize originalism as a major national issue.[43]

On April 12, 2014, Cruz spoke at the Freedom Summit, an event organized by Americans for Prosperity and Citizens United.[171] The event was attended by several potential presidential candidates.[172] In his speech, Cruz mentioned that Latinos, young people and single mothers are the people most affected by the recession, and that the Republican Party should make outreach efforts to these constituents. He also said that the words "growth and opportunity" should be tattooed on the hands of every Republican politician.[171]

Cruz delivered one of many State of the Union responses in January 2015.[173]

HarperCollins published Cruz's book A Time for Truth: Reigniting the Promise of America on June 30, 2015.[180] The book reached the bestseller list of several organizations in its first week of release.[181][182]

Primary wins

In the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, Cruz received over 7.8 million votes,[183][184] won 12 states, and earned 559 delegates.[185] He raised nearly $92 million, a record for a GOP primary candidate, much of it from small online donors. The Cruz campaign had more than 325,000 volunteers.[186]

On March 1, 2016, Super Tuesday primary day, Cruz won Texas by 17%, along with Alaska and Oklahoma, providing him with four state primary victories total.[192] In the Texas primary, Cruz received the most votes in all but six of the state's 254 counties.[193] On March 5, 2016, Cruz won the Kansas and Maine caucuses, giving him six statewide wins.[194][195][196]

Cruz won his widest margin up to that point in Kansas, where he beat frontrunner Donald Trump by 25 points.[197] With his victories over Trump in Texas, Kansas, and Maine, Cruz established himself as the candidate with the best opportunity to defeat Trump, the leading contender for the nomination.[198][199]

On March 22, 2016, Cruz won the Utah Caucus with 69.2% of the vote, versus John Kasich with 16.8% and Donald Trump with 14%.[202] Because Cruz surpassed the 50% winner-take-all threshold, he won all 40 of Utah's delegates. This win was his ninth. On April 3, 2016, North Dakota elected a slate of delegates that was dominated by pro-Cruz delegates. Cruz received the support of the majority of the delegates.[203]

On April 6, 2016, Cruz won the Wisconsin primary with 48.2% of the vote, with Trump receiving 35.1%. It was Cruz's tenth statewide win. Cruz won 36 of the possible 42 delegates available in Wisconsin. Trump received the other 6 delegates. On April 2 and 7–9, 2016, Cruz swept the Colorado congressional district and state conventions taking all 34 delegates.[204][205][206][207] This gave Cruz his eleventh state win. On April 16, 2016, Cruz won all 14 of Wyoming's at-large delegates in the state convention. This secured the majority of state delegates giving Cruz his twelfth state win.[208] On April 27, 2016, Cruz announced that, if he were selected as the party's nominee, he would choose former CEO of HP and fellow2016 Republican presidential candidateCarly Fiorina as his vice-presidential running mate.[209] Shortly after losing overwhelmingly to Trump in the Indiana primary on May 3, 2016, Cruz officially announced his decision to suspend his campaign.[210]

Citizenship

Cruz has stated that when he was a child, his mother told him that she would have to make an affirmative act to claim Canadian citizenship for him, so his family assumed that he did not hold Canadian citizenship.[211] In August 2013, after the Dallas Morning News pointed out that Cruz had dual Canadian-American citizenship,[212][213] he applied to formally renounce his Canadian citizenship and ceased being a citizen of Canada on May 14, 2014.[211][214]

Several lawsuits and ballot challenges asserting that Cruz is ineligible to become U.S. president have been filed.[215][216][217][218][219][220][221] No lawsuit or challenge has been successful, and in February 2016, the Illinois Board of Elections ruled in Cruz's favor, stating, "The candidate is a natural born citizen by virtue of being born in Canada to his mother who was a U.S. citizen at the time of his birth."[222]

After candidacy

Shortly after the campaign's end, Cruz indicated that he would be interested in restarting the bid if he were successful in the Nebraska primary,[223] which Trump instead won.[224]

In the months following, several publications noted that Cruz still had not endorsed Trump,[225][226] Cruz explaining in June that he was "watching and assessing" to determine if he would support him in the forthcoming general election.[227] On July 7, after a meeting with Trump, Cruz confirmed that he would be speaking at the 2016 Republican National Convention.[228]

In his speech on July 20, the third day of the convention, Cruz congratulated Trump but did not endorse him. He instead told listeners to "vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution". The speech was met with boos and a negative reception among the crowd.[229] The following day at the Texas Republican delegation breakfast, Cruz defended his choice to not endorse Trump: "I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father. That pledge was not a blanket commitment that if you go and slander and attack Heidi, that I'm going to nonetheless come like a servile puppy dog and say, 'Thank you very much for maligning my wife and maligning my father.'"[230][231] Two months later, on September 23, 2016, Cruz publicly endorsed Trump for president.[232]

On October 10, following the 2005 audio recording of Trump being released and several Republicans retracting their endorsements, Cruz reaffirmed his support, citing Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton as being "manifestly unfit to be President".[233] On November 15, Cruz met with President-elect Trump at the Trump Tower in New York City. It had been reported that Trump was considering Cruz for the position of U.S. Attorney General, but the position ultimately went to Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions.[234] On November 28, in light of Trump showing a softer tone on his campaign promises, Cruz warned that justified backlash could ensue if he strayed from them.[235]

Cruz has been backed by the billionaire Mercer family, including Robert and his daughter Rebekah.[236]

In July 2018, Cruz spoke at the Rally for Religious Freedom in Asia. Cruz said, "'It is a pleasure to be here and stand in solidarity for the men and women across this globe who have been persecuted by communists... We must stand united, in shining light, in highlighting heroism, in highlighting courage, in speaking out for those like my family, like so many millions across the globe who've seen the jackboot of communism firsthand.'"[238]

Crime, guns, and drug policy

Cruz has called for an end to "overcriminalization, harsh mandatory minimum sentences, and the demise of jury trials".[239] He supports the death penalty.[240] In his 2012 Senate campaign, Cruz frequently mentioned his role as counsel for the State of Texas in Medellín v. Texas, a 2008 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court found that Texas has the legal right to ignore an order from the International Court of Justice directing the U.S. to review the convictions and sentences of dozens of Mexican nationals on death row.[241] Cruz has referred to Medellín as the most important case of his tenure as Texas solicitor general.[241]

In an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt discussing the attack that killed three people at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Cruz said that "the simple and undeniable fact is the overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats", and that the reason Democrats are soft on crime, is that convicted felons tend to vote Democratic.[244]

In August 2015, in the wake of the ambush death of a Texas police officer who was gunned down while filling up at a gas station, Cruz said that police are "feeling the assault from the President, from the top on down, as we see – whether it's in Ferguson or Baltimore, the response from senior officials, the President or the Attorney General, is to vilify law enforcement. That's wrong. It's fundamentally wrong. It's endangering all of our safety and security."[245]

Cruz opposes the legalization of marijuana, but believes it should be decided at the state level.[246] Following the legalization of marijuana in Colorado he stated that, "If the citizens of Colorado decide they want to go down that road, that's their prerogative. I personally don't agree with it, but that's their right."[247]

Cruz and President Donald Trump, after signing the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017

Economy

Cruz has been described by the Cato Institute's Center for Trade Policy Studies as a "free trader"[248] and as a "free-trade advocate" by The Wall Street Journal.[249] In 2013, Cruz proposed the abolition of the IRS and the implementation of a flat tax "where the average American can fill out taxes on a postcard".[250] Cruz is "adamantly opposed to a higher minimum wage".[251]

Cruz wants to decrease the size of the government significantly. In addition to eliminating the IRS as described above, he has promised to eliminate four other cabinet-level agencies. Cruz proposes to eliminate the Department of Energy, the Department of Education, Department of Commerce, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.[252]

Education

Energy and environment

Cruz rejects the scientific consensus on climate change.[255][256] He has said that "the scientific evidence doesn't support global warming".[257] He has also stated: "They call anyone who questions the science who even points to the satellite data – they call you a, quote, 'denier'. Denier is not the language of science. Denier is the language of religion. It is heretic. You are a blasphemer. It's treated as a theology. But it's about power and money. At the end of the day, it's not complicated. This is liberal politicians who want government power."[257] In March 2015, he said that some people are "global warming alarmists" and, citing satellite temperature measurements, said that there had been no significant warming in 18 years.[256][257][258]

Cruz voted against the Water Resources Development Act of 2013 that would have created the National Endowment for the Oceans and authorized more than $26 billion in projects to be built by the Army Corps of Engineers, at least $16 billion of which would have come from federal taxpayers.[259][260] Cruz voted against the bill because it neglected "to reduce a substantial backlog of projects, to the detriment of projects with national implications, such as the Sabine–Neches Waterway".[261] Cruz stated that the Corps' responsibilities were expanded without providing adequate measures for state participation.[261] Proponents of the bill argued that it would provide steady funding to support research and restoration projects, funded primarily by dedicating 12.5% of revenues from offshore energy development, including oil, gas, and renewable energy, through offshore lease sales and production based royalty payments, distributed through a competitive grant program.[262]

Federal Reserve

In a 2014 opinion editorial in USA Today, Cruz wrote that auditing the Federal Reserve System was a top Republican priority in 2015 and that he supported legislation that would allow the Government Accountability Office to evaluate the Federal Reserve's monetary policy. Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen, whose confirmation Cruz had tried to prevent, said in her confirmation hearing that she opposed any audit of the Federal Reserve and that "For 50 years Congress has recognized that there should be an exception to GAO ability to audit the Fed to avoid any political interference in monetary policy."[268][269]

In 2013, Cruz stated that America had no "dog in the fight" during the Syrian Civil War and stated that America's armed forces should not serve as "al-Qaeda's air force".[274] In 2014, Cruz criticized the Obama administration: "The president's foreign policy team utterly missed the threat of ISIS, indeed, was working to arm Syrian rebels that were fighting side by side with ISIS", calling ISIS "the face of evil". In a statement opposing US intervention for regime change in Syria, Cruz said, "If President Obama and Hillary Clinton and Sen. Rubio succeed in toppling [Syrian President Bashar] Assad, the result will be the radical Islamic terrorists will take over Syria, that Syria will be controlled by ISIS, and that is materially worse for U.S. national security interests."[275]

In September 2016, Cruz backed the Obama administration's plan to sell more than $1.15 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia.[276]

In August 2018, Cruz and 16 other lawmakers urged the Trump administration to impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act against Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses against the UyghurMuslim minority in western China's Xinjiang region.[283] They wrote: "The detention of as many as a million or more Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in "political reeducation" centers or camps requires a tough, targeted, and global response."[284]

On December 18, 2018, Cruz and Senator Tom Cotton put forth a resolution in the U.S. Senate urging the United States to affirm Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.[285]

Health care

Cruz questions US Customs and Border Protection leaders on COVID-19 preparedness in March 2020

Hurricane aid

In 2013, Cruz voted against the bill to provide a package of federal aid to the East Coast for recovery from Hurricane Sandy.[290] Cruz said that he did not vote for Sandy disaster relief because the bill was "filled with unrelated pork" and that "two-thirds of that bill had nothing to do with Sandy". The Washington Post disputed this, writing "The bill was largely aimed at dealing with Sandy, along with relatively minor items to address other or future disasters."[291]The New York Times wrote that "Of 23 examples of extraneous spending that a spokesman for Mr. Cruz provided, all but one — $195 million in discretionary funds for the secretary of health and human services — were Sandy-related or sought to mitigate future storms, as the law required."[292]

In 2015, in the wake of fatal flooding in Texas, Cruz supported federal aid funding; in 2017, he called for federal intervention as Hurricane Harvey approached the coast of Texas.[293]

Immigration

Cruz adopted a "hard-line stance" on immigration issues during the 2014 border crisis[294] and is an opponent of comprehensive immigration reform.[43][294] Cruz advocates for an increase from 65,000 to 325,000 annually in skilled foreign workers entering the United States using H-1B visas.[295]

According to McClatchy, Cruz staked out "hard-right immigration stances" during his 2016 campaign for the Republican nomination for president.[296]

Cruz opposes providing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children (so-called DREAMers).[297] In February 2018, he was the sole Senator to oppose a Republican motion to begin debate on legislation intended to resolve the question of what to do with DREAMers.[298]

Cruz has called for the repeal of the clause of the 14th amendment, which grants citizenship to those born in the United States.[299]

Cruz defended the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant children from their parents.[300][301] Cruz blamed the migrant parents for crossing the US border to seek asylum and argued that the Obama administration had the same policy.[300][301]

Net neutrality

Cruz opposes net neutrality—which prevents Internet service providers from deliberately blocking or slowing particular websites—arguing that the Internet economy has flourished in the United States simply because it has remained largely free from government regulation.[302] Cruz has argued that net neutrality is the "Obamacare for the internet".[303][304] Cruz said that the Obama-era implementation of the principle of net neutrality had the "end result" of "less broadband, less innovation, and less freedom for the American consumer".[304] In December 2017, after the Republican-controlled Federal Communications Commission repealed net neutrality, Cruz mocked supporters of net neutrality as "snowflakes" who were misled by "online propaganda".[305]

Cruz has joked, "I'm Cuban, Irish, and Italian, and yet somehow I ended up Southern Baptist."[317] He loves to wear cowboy boots, but he refrained from doing so when arguing before the Rehnquist court.[318]

On March 8, 2020, Cruz announced a temporary leave of absence from his senate office due to concerns about his contact with a person infected with Coronavirus (COVID19) at the ACU'sConservative Political Action Conference. Cruz, staying at his home in Texas,[319] will avoid contact with colleagues and constituents until after 14 days (believed to be the limit of the virus's incubation period) has passed. Cruz stated he had been advised chances of his contracting the virus are very low.[320]

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↑ Cruz, Ted (2015). A Time For Truth: Reigniting the Promise of America. New York, NY: Broadside Books. ISBN978-0-06-236561-3.

1 2 3 Costa, Robert (August 28, 2013). "The Rise of Rafael Cruz". National Review. Retrieved August 28, 2013. Born in Matanzas, Cuba, he grew up in the Cuba middle class in the 1950s, as the son of an RCA salesman and an elementary-school teacher. As a teenager, he grew to detest the regime of Fulgencio Batista. He and some of his schoolmates frequently clashed with Batista's officials. Eventually, he linked up with Castro's guerrilla groups and supported their attempts to overthrow Batista. It's a decision he still regrets. His move toward Castro, he explains, was mostly due to his anger with Batista's government, which at one point imprisoned him and tortured him for his work with the revolutionaries. He says he never shared Castro's Communism, but at the time, it was the best way to fight Batista's oppression. By age 18, in 1957, he knew he needed to get out, and a friend essentially bribed an official to secure him an exit permit.

↑ Mackey, Maureen (March 23, 2015). "Ted Cruz: 20 Things You Didn't Know About Him". Fiscal Times. Retrieved April 23, 2015. 7: He graduated from Houston's Second Baptist High School in 1988 and was valedictorian of his class.Dunham, Richard (October 15, 2012). "Profile: A man of many contrasts, Ted Cruz defies easy stereotypes". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved April 23, 2015. Cruz was one of only two Hispanics when he transferred to Houston's Second Baptist School his junior year. He graduated valedictorian in 1988.Miller, Jake (March 19, 2015). "Will grassroots support be enough for Sen. Ted Cruz in 2016?". CBS News. Retrieved April 23, 2015. He graduated valedictorian of his high school in 1988, attended Princeton University for his undergraduate studies, and received his law degree from Harvard University.Barbash, Fred (March 23, 2015). "Why Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., is the perfect launchpad for Ted Cruz". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 23, 2015. The last time he spoke there, Cruz made no mention of his Ivy League degrees but recalled fondly his memories of Second Baptist High School in Houston, where he was valedictorian, and how his wife was the daughter and granddaughter of missionaries.Staff (2015). "Ted Cruz". Biography.com. Retrieved April 23, 2015. The valedictorian of his class at Houston's Second Baptist High School, Cruz went on to Princeton University.

↑ Elk Grove Unified School District and David W. Gordon, Superintendent vs. Michael A. Newdow, et al.,No. 02-1624, Amici Curiae Brief(Supreme Court of the United StatesDecember 2003)("Because of Their "History and Ubiquity," Acknowledgments of Religion in Patriotic or Historical Contexts Are Entirely Consistent with the Establishment Clause.").

1 2 Hartfield, Elizabeth (July 31, 2012). "Ted Cruz Wins In Texas GOP Senate Runoff". ABC News. Retrieved March 25, 2015. Dewhurst enjoyed a huge financial advantage over Cruz. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Dewhurst poured $11 million of his own personal fortune—he founded a successful energy company called Falcon Seaboard—into his campaign, spending a total of $19 million, as compared to Cruz's $7 million spent.

↑ Manning, Rick (December 27, 2013). "Ted Cruz: 2013 Person of the Year". The Hill. Washington, DC: Capitol Hill Publishing Corp. Retrieved December 28, 2013. No politician had a greater impact on the past year than freshman U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Cruz came from the Lone Star State not owing the D.C. political establishment anything, after he beat the chosen replacement for Kay Bailey Hutchison in an underfunded, grassroots driven Republican primary election.

↑ Schleifer, Theodore (March 21, 2015). "Ted Cruz to announce presidential bid Monday". Houston Chronicle. Houston, Texas. Retrieved March 22, 2015. Cruz will launch a presidential bid outright rather than form an exploratory committee, said senior advisers with direct knowledge of his plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement had not been made yet. They say he is done exploring and is now ready to become the first Republican presidential candidate.

↑ Thrush, Glenn (July 18, 2016). "Ted Cruz contemplates the unthinkable". Politico. Washington, DC. Retrieved July 18, 2016. The first-term senator won 8 million votes, 600 delegates and 12 states. He raised nearly $92 million — a record for a GOP primary candidate, much of it from small online donors. He ran by far the best ground operation of any GOP campaign this year, with more than 325,000 volunteers flocking to Cruz's call for a grass-roots Republican renewal.

1 2 Collinson, Stephen (February 2, 2016). "Iowa caucus results: Ted Cruz wins, Hillary Clinton declares victory". Atlanta, Georgia: CNN. Retrieved February 6, 2016. Cruz's victory sets him up as a formidable force in delegate-rich, Southern states to come and offers movement conservatives hope that one of their own can become the Republican nominee for the first time since Ronald Reagan.

↑ McCullough, Jolie (March 2, 2016). "Cruz, Clinton Grab Most Votes in Almost Every Texas County". Texas Tribune. Austin, Texas. Retrieved March 2, 2016. With 100% of precincts reporting, Cruz, came away with 1,239,158 votes, or 43.8% of the total. Donald Trump followed behind with 757,489 votes, or 26.7% of the vote. Cruz, one of the state's two U.S. senators, got the most votes in all but six of the state's 254 counties.

↑ "Cruz crushes Trump in Wyoming Republican caucus". March 13, 2016. Retrieved March 13, 2016. With all votes counted, Texas Senator Cruz won 66.3 percent of the ballots in the western state, far ahead of his nearest rival, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who earned 19.5 percent of the vote.

↑ Gillman, Todd (December 28, 2013). "Ted Cruz says he's hired lawyers to renounce Canadian citizenship". Dallas Morning News. Dallas, Texas: A. H. Belo. Retrieved December 30, 2013. But the strong legal consensus is that with even one American parent—a circumstance shared by Obama and Cruz—a child born anywhere qualifies as a "natural born American," entitled to citizenship at birth and therefore eligible to serve as president.

↑ Merda, Chad (February 3, 2016). "Illinois election board: Ted Cruz is a natural-born citizen". Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago, Illinois. Archived from the original on February 4, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2016. The candidate is a natural born citizen by virtue of being born in Canada to his mother who was a U.S. citizen at the time of his birth," the board said. It pointed out that Cruz "did not have to take any steps to go through a naturalization process at some point after birth" and therefore "further discussion on this issue is unnecessary.

↑ Phelphs, Jordyn (July 21, 2016). "Ted Cruz 'Not in the Habit' of Endorsing People Who Attack His Family". ABC News. New York City, New York. Retrieved July 21, 2016. Further defending his RNC speech, in which declined to endorse the party's nominee, Ted Cruz said Trump knew the contents of his speech before its delivery, including the absence of an endorsement. "He didn't ask me to endorse, and indeed, three days ago I talked on the phone with him and told him, 'I'm not going to endorse you,'" Cruz said.